A spring break party could be the “ perfect storm ” for triggering the spread of new coronavirus variants in the US, an expert warned.
“It’s the perfect storm,” Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, at CNN.
Hotez said he feared college kids heading to the Florida party scene could accelerate the spread of the highly contagious British variety known as B.1.1.7.
“You have the B.1.1.7 variant that speeds up in Florida. You have all those 20-year-old kids, ”he said.
‘None of them will have masks. They are all going to drink. They have quite close, intimate contact. And when all that is done, they go back to their home state and distribute the B.1.1.7 variant. “
Hotez noted that Florida currently has the highest percentage in the country of the British variety, believed to be as much as 74 percent transmissible as the original species.
“So now is not the time to have a superspreader event for that British variety, like the Florida spring break would look like,” said Hotez.
“Now is not the time to send a bunch of 20-year-olds to Florida and then send them back and spread it all over the country.”
Hotez said other spring break destinations, such as Texas and Mississippi, could also become hot spots for the virus now that states have ditched mask mandates.
“Many (students) also go to South Texas, which is also a concern,” said Hotez, adding that the lack of mask rules “could accelerate COVID-19 nationally.”
Hotez urged people to avoid travel unless they have been vaccinated or recently infected.
“I know it’s frustrating,” said Hotez. “But try to maximize social aloofness and masks, and this could be the last spring break to give up.”